1. Field of the Invention
Although many antibacterial agents are known today, there continues to be a demand for new, improved antibiotics. One problem in current antibiotic therapy is the fact that antibiotics differ in their effectiveness against pathogenic organisms. Another problem is the development of organism strains which are resistant to standard antibiotics. Yet another problem is the fact that individual patients often suffer serious reactions to specific antibiotics, due to hypersensitivity and/or to toxic effects. Because of these problems in current therapy, new antibiotics continue to be in demand.
In addition to demands for new antibiotics which are useful in treating diseases in humans, improved antibiotics are also needed in the veterinary field. In one important aspect, improved antibiotics are needed to promote growth in poultry and in livestock. Growth promotion is achieved, for example, by reducing disease and by increasing feed-utilization efficiency.
One well-known disease of economic importance to veterinary science, more specifically to the poultry industry, is the protozoan disease coccidiosis. Coccidiosis results from infection by one or more species of Eimeria or Isospora (for a summary, see Lund and Farr in "Diseases of Poultry," 5th ed, Biester and Schwarte, Eds., Iowa State University Press, Ames, Ia., 1965, pp 1056-1096). In view of the great economic losses due to coccidiosis and the disadvantages of some known anticoccidial agents, the search for better anticoccidial agents continues.
Enteritis is another disease which can cause severe economic losses to livestock producers. Enteritis occurs in chickens, swine, cattle and sheep and is attributed mainly to anaerobic bacteria, particularly Clostridium perfringens, and viruses. Enterotoxemia in ruminants, an example of which is "overeating disease" in sheep, is a condition caused by C. perfringens infection.
Promotion of growth in ruminants, such as cattle, is another economically desirable objective of veterinary science. Of particular interest is growth promotion achieved by increasing feed-utilization efficiency. The mechanism for utilization of the major nutritive portion (carbohydrates) of ruminant feeds is well known. Microoganisms in the rumen of the animal degrade carbohydrates to produce monosaccharides and then convert these monosaccharides to pyruvate compounds. Pyruvates are metabolized by microbiological processes to form acetates, butyrates or propionates, collectively known as volatile fatty acids (VFA). For a more detailed discussion, see Leng in "Physiology of Digestion and Metabolism in the Ruminant," Phillipson et al., Eds., Oriel Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1970, pp 408-410.
The relative efficiency of VFA utilization is discussed by McCullough in Feedstuffs, June 19, 1971, page 19; Eskeland et al. in J. An. Sci. 33, 282 (1971); and Church et al. in "Digestive Physiology and Nutrition of Ruminants," Vol. 2, 1971, pp 622 and 625. Although acetates and butyrates are utilized, propionates are utilized with greater efficiency. Furthermore, when too little propionate is available, animals may develop ketosis. A beneficial compound, therefore, stimulates animals to produce a higher proportion of propionates from carbohydrates, thereby increasing carbohydrate-utilization efficiency and also reducing the incidence of ketosis.
2. The Prior Art
Antibiotic A-28086 factors A, B, and D are new members of a group of polyether antibiotics. Examples of members of this group include monensin (U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,568); dianemycin [R. L. Hamill, M. M. Hoehn, G. E. Pittenger, J. Chamberlin, and M. Gorman, J. Antibiotics 22, 161 (1969)]; nigericin [L. K. Steinrauf, Mary Pinkerton, and J. W. Chamberlin, Biochem, Biophys. Res. Comm. 33 29 (1968)]; and salinomycin [Japan Pat. publication 47-25392, dated Oct. 20, 1972, application No. 19620/1971; Derwent No. 76960T, U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,948; and H. Kinashi, N. Otake, H. Yonehara, S. Sato and Y. Saito, Tetrahedron Lett. 49, 4955-4958 (1973)].